Southern Section Girls’ Championship Roundup : Morningside Defeats Fontana for Title

It did not take long for Morningside High to establish its superiority over Fontana in the Southern Section 5-AA girls championship basketball game Friday night at Cal Poly Pomona.

The Monarchs raced to a 10-0 lead in the first three minutes and were never threatened in a 71-48 victory.

The win improved Morningside’s record to 29-1 and moved the Monarchs into the State Division I regionals Tuesday against an undetermined opponent. Fontana finished the season with a 27-2 record.

It was the second consecutive title for Morningside, which won the 4-A championship last year, and the school’s third since 1983.

But despite the score, Morningside Coach Frank Scott wasn’t thrilled with his team’s performance. “To be truthful, we played a bad game,” he said. “We knew we had to stop (Danielle) Carter and we didn’t. I was kind of uncomfortable, not with the score but with the way we played.”

Carter, a 6-2 center, scored 29 points while making 10 of 20 shots. Unfortunately for the Steelers, the rest of the team totaled only 19 points.

The Monarchs were led by All-Southern Section center Lisa Leslie, a 6-5 junior who scored 24 points and grabbed 16 rebounds before fouling out midway through the fourth quarter.